


Treading Water

by talesofsymphoniac



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, Sormikweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-07-29 18:53:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7695490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofsymphoniac/pseuds/talesofsymphoniac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikleo is a good lifeguard, but his coworkers can't help but notice he's been very distracted recently.</p><p>Written for Day One of Sormik Week 2016: Water</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treading Water

Mikleo took his job very seriously. He had to, since the other lifeguard on his shift, Zaveid, had a tendency to get distracted and try to flirt with pretty girls. Mikleo, on the other hand, made it a point to be the responsible one, the focused one. His family was friends with the owner of this pool, along with Zaveid and most of the others who worked there. That might be how he’d gotten this job, but he was determined to keep it through hard work, rather than Zaveid’s tactic of sucking up to their employers. No, Mikleo was a good lifeguard, and he was committed to keeping it that way.

Which was why he was so frustrated by one particular patron who, only a few weeks ago, had started visiting the pool most evenings during the week. Well, that was incorrect; he was the opposite of irritated with the boy, who was about his own age. He was more annoyed with himself and the way he couldn’t seem to stop his eyes from drifting that way, admiring the muscles of his shoulders and back as he pulled himself through the water with ease. He scowled, thinking of those bright green eyes and the smile on his face. He redoubled his focus, carefully sweeping back and forth over the pool. He was really getting as bad as Zaveid.

“So that’s him, is it?”

“Edna?” Mikleo scowled, eyes never ceasing their scan over the water’s surface. He could picture her perfectly, anyway, leaning against the wall next to him, staring in the boy’s direction with raised eyebrows. From bad to worse. Zaveid had been joking about his preoccupation with this unknown boy yesterday, which meant now the others knew, which meant Edna was never going to let him live it down.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?” He knew it would do no good; Edna was notorious for abandoning her post and leaving Lailah to take care of it on her own.

“It’s slow,” she said simply.

Mikleo’s gaze flicked to the concession stand, where Lailah was handing out soft serve to a small handful of eager children. “Uh huh,” he rolled his eyes. “Well, I _am_ working, so if you don’t mind--”

“I didn’t know mooning over half-naked strangers was part of your job description,” Edna interrupted, and Mikleo could practically hear the small smirk playing on her lips. “You can get paid for that?”

“I am not ‘mooning’,” he insisted stubbornly. “I’m working, and you shouldn’t be distracting me. Zaveid is just… ugh. Zaveid. Speaking of people who moon over half-naked strangers.”

“I heard my name?”

Mikleo groaned. “You’re supposed to be working, too!”

“It’s my break,” Zaveid said calmly, striding to lean next to Edna. Mikleo’s irritation was rising; if Zaveid was off, that meant his replacement was supposed to be here, too. Late, as usual. Mikleo decided there was no way out and crossed his arms. Truly, he was doomed to be teased by his coworkers about this for the rest of his life.

“Looks like he’s leaving,” Edna commented, and Mikleo’s eyes flashed briefly to the boy climbing out of the pool, dripping wet, reaching for a towel to dry off.

“Hey, Mikboy,” Zaveid said under his breath. “I’ll cover for you here if you go talk to him.”

“You guys are impossible. He’s really just some guy.”

Zaveid shook his head, his show of exasperation betrayed by his amused smile. Edna, too, was plenty entertained. “He’s not bad-looking,” she said, watching their object of interest beginning to gather his things. “I’m surprised. Who knew Meebo had good taste?”

Zaveid made a skeptical noise. “He _is_ pretty toned, but I’d say I have him beat, don’t you think?”

He gave Mikleo an imploring look, but Mikleo didn’t even both glancing his way. “Uh. No,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Zaveid pouted, and Edna snickered.

“Even I knew Mikleo had better taste than that."

* * *

 

Rose leapt right into the water, with little concern for the spray of water that hit Alisha, who had been in the process of dipping a testing toe into the pool. She startled, surprised at being splashed, and then followed Sorey in, slowly moving into deeper waters.

When all three were set treading water in the middle of the main pool, Rose began examining their surroundings. “So? Which one is he?” She asked, her voice echoing loudly across the pool. She snorted, noticing a lifeguard trying to meet her eye, and spoke softer. “Ugh, please don’t tell me it’s that dude with the long hair, he looks like a total douche.”

“Rose!” Sorey exclaimed, looking anxiously around for anyone else that might have heard her comments.

Alisha frowned. “Try to be more subtle, Rose,” she scolded gently. “We didn’t come here to embarrass Sorey!”

Rose laughed, wetting her hair to pull it away from her face. “Speak for yourself. That’s, like, half the reason I came along!”

Alisha sighed. “Rose…”

The other girl gave a devious smirk. “The other half was to see you in a cute swimsuit.”

“Rose!” Alisha cried, looking scandalized. Her face had turned a shade of pink that matched her suit, something Rose seemed to find endlessly amusing.

“What, I said you were cute!” She grinned. Alisha’s eyes narrowed, and suddenly a huge wave hit Rose square in the face. “Alisha!” She whined, but she was giggling too, and quickly retaliated, splashing at her girlfriend haphazardly. Sorey let himself drift back, watching as the water fight quickly turned into a small wrestling match, each girl attempting to dunk the other.

Their good-natured battle was interrupted with the chirp of a whistle, and all three looked up to see a lifeguard, not the one Rose had pointed out before, perched on his chair, meeting the girls’ eyes with a stern expression and shaking his head. Sorey felt himself flush, and Rose swam to meet him.

“That’s him, right?” Sorey nodded, and Rose turned to give him a closer look. “Hm,” she mused. “Well, you were right; he’s plenty pretty.”

“Y-yeah.”

Alisha caught up to them, and Rose subtly glanced over at the lifeguard, casting Alisha a meaningful look. Alisha’s eyes widened, and she nodded, looking incredibly serious. Suddenly, Sorey felt bashful, and profoundly uncomfortable about this whole thing.

Rose immediately noticed. “Hey, what’s gotten into you?”

Sorey shook his head. “It just-- It feels like we’re spying on him.”

Alisha giggled. “Maybe you should go talk to him, then, Sorey,” she suggested, smiling at him gently.

Sorey felt his face warm, and he looked away, speaking far too quickly. “What? He’s working right now, and I don’t think--”

“Come on,” Rose cut him off, blue eyes glinting. “You wanted us to come along, you must have known we were going to push you to do this. You’ve been talking about this guy for weeks now.”

“Why don’t we wait until he gets off?” Alisha added diplomatically. Neither she nor Sorey noticed Rose’s snicker.

Sorey considered this. “Okay,” he said hesitantly. “Maybe you’re right.”

Rose rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “You two are so innocent.” Sorey and Alisha glanced at each other, and, not understanding, shrugged. 

* * *

 

“Well, look who it is,” Edna said, taking a seat on one of the reclining pool chairs. “And he brought friends today.”

Zaveid perched an arm on the back of the chair, leaning over Edna with interest. “That he _did,”_ he said, eyeing the two girls accompanying the boy, who were laughing and splashing each other.

Mikleo frowned, putting his whistle to his lips and blowing a short burst, doing his best not to take any pleasure in it. There was no reason to be jealous, he told himself, watching as they swam back to the boy they had arrived with. He didn’t even know them. When the roughhousing had ceased, he continued scanning the water, directing his words to the others in irritation. “Do the two of you ever do any actual work?” Come to think of it, if Zaveid was here, that meant it was his break too, and his replacement was, yet again, late.

In lieu of answering, Zaveid suddenly stood straight up. “Wait, hold on, I’ve got it. A foolproof plan.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I talk to the ladies over there for a minute or two, and you take the opportunity to talk to your dude.”

“He's not _my dude_. I don’t even know him,” Mikleo maintained, his tone flat.

“Ah, but you will!” Zaveid smiled sagely. “Hopefully. And I mean that both literally and biblically,” he added seriously, causing both Mikleo and Edna to roll their eyes.

“One of those girls is probably his girlfriend, you know,” Mikleo said, trying his best not to sound bitter. These were just facts, after all. And even if he wasn’t dating anyone, that didn’t mean he’d like Mikleo. He didn’t even know Mikleo existed.

Zaveid’s grin stretched across his face, and he winked at Mikleo. “Only one way to find out. That’s my cue!”

“Wait, what are you-- Zaveid!” Mikleo hissed, but he was far too late. Zaveid had already marched over to the trio, hands on his hips, clearly meaning business. Mikleo fought an internal battle: leave his post prematurely, a huge violation of safety and protocol, or suffer whatever humiliations Zaveid was sure to cause him? He hoped desperately for Lailah, the only one who could occasionally curb Zaveid’s antics, to arrive, but she was nowhere to be seen. Edna simply watched his panic with amusement, as if daring him to ask her for help.

He didn’t. He could only watch on in horror as Zaveid called out to the small group floating in the pool.

* * *

 

“Don’t look now, but the douchey-looking one is coming over here.” When Sorey and Alisha inevitably looked up at the approaching lifeguard, Rose scowled. “I just said not to look,” she complained.

“Hello, there, ladies,” the man said in a voice that would have been smooth if it wasn't trying so hard. He stood at the edge of the pool and threw a hand up in a casual wave. “Name’s Zaveid. How are you all doing today?”

Alisha stiffened. Rose saw that she wanted nothing to do with this guy and frankly agreed, but she nudged Alisha, who did her best to respond casually. “We’re doing fine.”

When she didn’t continue, Zaveid turned to Rose, instead. “And who might you be?”

“Rose,” came the reply, unimpressed. The three began drifting closer to Zaveid, reaching an area shallow enough to stand in the water instead of treading.

“I’m Sorey,” Sorey offered happily.

Alisha sighed. “My name is Alisha,” she relented, but Zaveid still had his eyes on Sorey, a half-smile beginning to spread across his face.

“Sorey, huh?” His voice was almost musing, and Rose wondered if he had met Sorey somewhere before. This thought was immediately killed in a wave of annoyance when Zaveid continued. “And Sorey, are either of these lovely ladies your girlfriend, by chance?”

Alisha suppressed a groan, but Sorey didn’t seem to see anything wrong with the question. “That they are not,” he confirmed easily.

Rose was irritated, too, albeit for a different reason than Alisha. “Uh, hello? We’re right here, you know,” she said, crossing her arms. Sorey grinned at her in apology.

“Sorry.”

“So,” Zaveid continued, looking at each of them in turn. “You’re all single, then?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Alisha did her best not to groan.

Rose actually managed to look impressed with the man’s sleezy behavior. “Geez, I was right about him,” she muttered, just loud enough to make sure Zaveid heard. “He _is_ a douche.”

Alisha almost giggled at the wounded pout that appeared on Zaveid’s face, but she caught herself. “Rose and I-- that is, Rose is my girlfriend,” she said firmly, glancing at Rose, who looked at her with undisguised delight. She so rarely found the courage to say such a thing out loud, something Rose did not have a hard time with.

“Ah, gotcha.” To her surprise, Zaveid didn’t look at all taken aback by her declaration. “So Sorey here is just third wheeling.”

Sorey grinned. “More or less.”

“Zaveid, you’re supposed to be working right now, not flirting with the guests.”

Rose shot Alisha a gleeful look as another young man approached, and this time it was the one they had come for, the slender one with light hair who had told them off earlier. Sorey almost immediately lost the carefree attitude he’d had talking with Zaveid and suddenly didn’t seem to know where to look. Rose, however, had no such anxieties; she examined the new face curiously. He was determinedly glaring at Zaveid, hands on his hips, looking ready to drag Zaveid away himself. For something as simple as talking to some girls in the pool, Rose thought, his anger was a bit much. There might well be something else going on there.

Ignoring his coworker’s scolding, Zaveid only seemed to grin wider. “Well, look who finally showed up! Come on, Mikleo, it’s our break!” Rose managed to catch the meaningful look Zaveid threw at Mikleo with his next words. “Seriously, Mikleo, a little flirting never hurt anyone.” Rose raised her eyebrows, noting the blush that bloomed across Mikleo’s cheeks at this. Zaveid gestured back to them, continuing with a satisfied air. “Although, I wouldn’t bother flirting with them, they’re in a happy and committed relationship, right?”

The stern line of Mikleo’s shoulders fell for a moment. “Oh,” he said, and yes, Rose definitely heard a tinge of disappointment. Interesting.

“That’s right!” Alisha took Rose’s hand firmly in her own, and though the others probably couldn’t tell since they were still in the water, Rose found herself pleased by the claim Alisha was staking over her. There was something satisfying about it, and plus, it would be fun to tease her about later.

Meanwhile, Mikleo’s eyes widened, having finally allowed himself to look in their direction. “ _Oh,_ ” he said again, as if he had put something together.

Rose had just about caught onto what was going on here, and she watched as Zaveid’s smirk grew even wider at Mikleo’s reaction. “Mikleo, meet Rose and Alisha,” he said cheerfully. “And this,” he paused just the slightest bit, clearly relishing every second of this, “Is Sorey.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sorey said, turning his eyes up to where Mikleo stood above him, his doofy smile coming out in full force.

Mikleo didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic, Rose noted with amusement. “Y-yeah,” he said, a hand creeping up to cover his mouth. “You too.”

When neither of them said anything else for a moment, Zaveid clapped his hands together, making Sorey and Mikleo jump. “Hey! Did you two know it’s Lady’s Night?” He caught Rose’s eye and oh yeah, she knew what they were up to now. “You two can get a free snow cone at the concession stand, here, I’ll show you where.”

Alisha frowned, disinclined to humor Zaveid after his earlier behavior. “I didn’t see anything about--”

“Sounds great!” Rose cut her off, dragging her out of the pool by the hand. “Come on, Alisha!”

“W-what?” Alisha followed her, shivering and dripping with water, and she followed Zaveid. He quickly left Mikleo and Sorey, taking them into the sun and tossing them each a dry towel, then leading them to the concession stand. He perched on one of the nearby chairs, calling out to someone inside the stand and then turning to them.

“And now we wait,” Rose said, scrubbing at her hair with the towel, and the man returned her smirk. Alisha looked utterly baffled.

“You caught on, huh?” Zaveid laughed, and then he took pity on Alisha and explained. “That was for their benefit. Though I’m sure I can convince Lailah to get you some snow cones anyway.”

“Zaveid!” A set of gloved hands slapped against the counter of the stand, and a woman’s head stuck out of the window, hair pulled back in the longest ponytail Rose had ever seen, glaring at Zaveid without much fire. “How many times have I told you not to flirt while you're working?”

“It’s my break!” Zaveid protested, sounding pleased at her scolding. He then turned to wink at Rose and Alisha. “She’s the jealous type, you see,” he said conspiratorially.

The woman fumed, huffing dramatically. “I am not!”

“Are too,” Zaveid returned without even looking.

“Am not!”

“Ugh,” came a third voice, and then another girl had poked her head out the window, leaning her face against her hand. “Make them stop.” Alisha giggled nervously, glancing at Rose for help. She shrugged, amused and perplexed in equal parts, scarcely taking her eyes from the spectacle before her.

“Anyway, my dear Lailah,” Zaveid continued, pounding a fist on the table in front of him, “This is all in the name of love!”

“Oh, like you’ve never tried that one before,” the younger girl droned, just out of sight.

Rose stood, leaning so that the woman, Lailah, could see her, and waved. “It’s cool, Lailah, we’re in on it too. See?” She nudged her thumb behind her, back towards the pool.

Lailah squinted over Rose’s shoulder, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Oh!” She exclaimed, her sea-blue eyes widening in surprise. “Is that Mikleo?”

“Sure is!” Zaveid enthused. “With the help of our new friends Rose and Alisha, they’re finally talking to each other!”

At this, Lailah clapped her hands together, and she gave a little twirl. “Oh, this is just great, simply fantastic,” she said, nodding to herself as she spoke. “This is going to go _swimmingly,_ I’m sure.” Zaveid and the other girl groaned, but Lailah ignored them in favor of speaking to Rose and Alisha directly. “Would you two like a snow cone? It’s on the house!”

“Why is it that when I flirt on the job, I get yelled at, but when Micky does it, people get free snow cones?” Zaveid groused, but he turned to shoot a playful wink at Rose and Alisha.

“Here!” Lailah said, disregarding Zaveid completely and handing Rose two paper cones filled with blue ice. When she had a grip on them, Lailah stuck a spoon into each and declared, “Dive in!”

“Isn’t that ‘dig in?’” Rose asked, making her way back to Alisha to hand over her treat. This time, Lailah ignored her with a disproportionately frosty glare. Rose supposed she didn’t take kindly to those who questioned her puns. She jabbed at her snow cone with the spoon. “So, your Mikleo has had his eye on Sorey too, I take it.”

The other girl behind the counter snorted. “Oh, yeah. I’ve never seen Meebo so distracted in my life.”

“You shouldn’t tease him, Edna,” Lailah reprimanded gently. “Though he has been _drifting off_ quite a bit lately,” she added, hiding a giggle herself.

Rose grinned, making her way back to her chair and kicking her feet up onto the table. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. I have a feeling those two will get along just fine.”

* * *

 

Rose only just barely managed to contain herself until they had passed the grumpy-looking receptionist and officially left the pool. “So? How’d it go?”

Sorey’s eyes were wide, like a deer in the headlights. When he responded, it was slowly, as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “I… I think I asked him on a date.”

Rose and Alisha looked at each other, and Rose swore she heard Alisha make a squeaking sound that she’d be sure to tease her about later. “You… you _think?”_

 

At the same time, to his dismay, Mikleo was undergoing his own interrogation. “He mentioned he’d taken lessons here one summer, so I told him I’ve been here since I was five, so we must have met before. He pulled out his phone to find a picture and see if I really was there, and I noticed he had a copy of _The Celestial Record._ ”

 

“Oh, no.” Rose groaned. “Tell me you didn’t geek out on the poor guy.”

Sorey chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his neck. “Well…”

Rose smacked herself on the forehead.

 

“He had the entire introduction memorized,” Mikleo said, and while his face bore the long-suffering expression he’d perfected after months of hanging out with Zaveid and Edna, his tone told a different story. He sounded affectionate.

Edna snorted. “What a dreamboat.”

Mikleo shook his head. “Yeah,” he said with the beginnings of a smile. “Turns out he’s studying anthropology, too.”

“Oh, goodie,” Edna groaned. One Nerdleo was more than enough.

 

Alisha and Rose traded grins at how animated Sorey had become, his nervousness giving way to enthusiasm. “And then he brought up the exhibition opening at the museum this weekend, and I said--”

 

“‘Do you want to come with me? Rose isn’t really into that kind of thing, and Alisha’s busy this weekend,’” Mikleo quoted, hiding his mouth behind his hand as he finished speaking.

Zaveid grinned at Mikleo’s embarrassment. “You say yes?”

Mikleo’s blush deepened, and he crossed his arms, turning his nose up in a pretense of annoyance. “Well, yeah.”

 

Rose slapped Sorey on the back cheerfully, causing him to cry out. “Well, it’s a good start, anyway. Now you’ve just got your date to worry about!”

Sorey nodded, thinking seriously to himself. “Yeah.”

* * *

Mikleo had left his things at the pool, so the others knew he would be coming back tonight. They sat around one of the plastic tables outside, waiting to ambush their friend the moment he returned from his date.

“How do you think it went?”

Dezel glared in Zaveid's direction. He worked at the front desk and hated it. The only reason he was still here was that he and Zaveid carpooled, and he was determinedly irritable about it. “Why are you so obsessed with this, anyway?”

“Now, Dezel,” Lailah scolded playfully. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“No,” Dezel growled.

Edna sighed, twirling her straw around the edge of her plastic cup of water. “Honestly, I agree. I’ve lost interest.”

“You were only in it in the first place to annoy Mikleo,” Zaveid pointed out. Edna shrugged as if she didn’t understand why Zaveid was bringing up such an irrelevant fact. Zaveid sighed. “You guys are so--”

But Zaveid’s complaint was cut off by the sound of approaching voices. Everyone stopped talking immediately, perking towards the noise, including Dezel, despite himself.

“I’m telling you, you can’t just leap to conclusions. There are a lot of reasons they might have chosen to use that particular structure--”

“Like what? Come on, we’re not talking about some random building! This was the center of their entire civilization! Their two cultures must have been a lot closer than we currently believe--”

“Every record mentioning them makes it clear that they utterly despised each other!”

“Every _surviving_ record.”

There was a pause, and the second voice, which was recognizable now as Mikleo, responded more thoughtfully. “If they were destroying records, why stop at the building? Unless…”

Sorey’s voice chimed in again, more determined than ever. “That church was a historical relic, even by that point! They wouldn’t just destroy it!”

“And if they didn’t recognize the architecture’s origin… Fine,” Mikleo relented. “Your theory’s _still_ improbable, though.”

“But not impossible, right?”

The two rounded the corner, and Mikleo was now close enough for them to see the amused smirk on his face. “Not impossible. Just very, very, _very_ unlikely.”

Sorey beamed. “I’ll take that as a win!”

Speechless, the rest watched as Sorey walked Mikleo back inside the building to collect his things. Dezel was the first one to break the silence, his usual growl tinged with amusement. “Great job, guys. Now he’ll never shut up.”

Zaveid chuckled awkwardly. “Well. At least they’re getting along… I think?”

Lailah pressed her fingers to her lips, stifling a giggle. Edna groaned, putting her head in her hands.

* * *

Rose and Alisha had also been waiting to ambush Sorey. They had made something of a date of it, picnicking in his front yard, which Alisha thought was a bit ridiculous. Rose was quick to change her mind-- or rather, to distract her from her objections-- until Sorey reached his house, cheeks flushed, smile wide, practically skipping down the sidewalk.

“Well?” Rose asked. Sorey didn’t look at all surprised to see them, whether because he was too excited to think twice about his friends or because he was simply used to their antics. Alisha offered him some of the cookies leftover from their meal, and he accepted, all but vibrating as he took a seat on the blanket in front of his house.

“It was great! I can’t believe we have such similar interests, you know? I mean, I told you he had a certain beauty about him, but I didn’t know he’d be so smart, too!” His excitement was contagious; Rose and Alisha couldn’t help matching his enthusiasm.

“Yeah?” Rose sat back, slightly amused.

Sorey nodded eagerly. “We didn’t stop talking and debating the whole time!”

Alisha giggled. “How romantic,” she said indulgently.

“And he’s really nice!” Sorey gushed. “He paid for dinner after!”

 

“Well, he paid for the tickets, first,” Mikleo said, looking smug. “And we weren’t anywhere _near_ finished discussing why multiple completely different societies might have ended up with such similar styles of architecture, so…” He cried out as Edna poked him violently with her straw, then rolled his eyes. “Well, it only made sense.”

Zaveid grinned widely. “Well, well, who knew Mikleo had moves?”

Mikleo shook his head, a small smile just visible as he looked away. “It wasn’t like that,” he said, crossing his arms, absently stroking his sleeves. Truthfully, he still wasn’t sure it was a date; nothing they had done felt particularly romantically driven. Sorey, dressed handsomely in a dark blue buttoned shirt, had been nothing short of vivacious, the sparkling green eyes Mikleo had secretly admired for weeks eagerly examining exhibits. Mikleo hadn’t had time to become distracted looking at him, however, because then he’d come up with elaborate theories and train those bright eyes on Mikleo, waiting earnestly for his input. Mikleo, usually not one for conversation, found himself speaking without inhibition, arguing Sorey’s points, and to his delight, Sorey pushed back.

When they left the museum, still completely absorbed in their conversation, Mikleo could sense that neither of them wanted to part ways, so he’d suggested they find a place to eat, and Sorey agreed, and that was that. Mikleo definitely wasn’t sure it had been a date.

He smiled to himself, almost forgetting that Lailah and the others were watching him. “But it was a lot of fun.”

* * *

Following the maybe-a-date, Sorey came around the pool more often, and now instead of coming when Mikleo was working, he arrived just as Mikleo got ready to leave, and they would run off to some museum or library or whatever it was they did for fun. Sometimes Rose and Alisha would join them, too, but more often than not the two would become engrossed in conversations about history that the others were only too eager to escape.

It turned out they all got along pretty well, not just Sorey and Mikleo: The pool was closed on Sunday, but since Lailah’s family ran the place, she was allowed free reign and they typically ended up meeting there anyway. Those days were the most fun, just hanging around without doing much. Rose would join forces with Edna and Zaveid to tease the others, and Alisha chatted with Lailah, allowing herself to relax in a way that was rare for her around people other than Sorey and Rose.

When Lailah bemoaned Edna’s poor form creating the twirl on the soft-serve ice cream cones she was supposed to be serving, Mikleo impressed Rose and Alisha by executing a perfect swirl, handing it to Alisha, and explaining that he’d worked at the concession stand with Lailah before he’d become a lifeguard. Rose laughed at Edna’s grumbling that nobody cared what the dang ice cream looked like, it was just going to melt in ten seconds anyway.

Even Dezel wasn’t impervious to the friendships forming between the groups; while he typically liked to stay aloof, he found himself drawn into the excitement that turned out to be caused by Sorey and Mikleo having a race in the pool (Sorey was slightly faster at first, but Mikleo’s endurance made him the winner in the long run, though the rivalry continued for weeks after the initial race) and then getting caught in a conversation with Rose and Zaveid. After a while, Dezel started to join them of his own accord, and while he didn’t say much, he could typically be found lingering by Rose’s side.

Sorey and Mikleo, of course, were the closest of all. They could always be found in the corner with a book, or having a heated debate about this ruin or that ancient civilization. Even beyond their shared interest, though, the two clicked well, and were practically inseparable. When Edna or Zaveid teased Mikleo and he got angry, Sorey was able to neutralize the situation with an easygoing smile or a cheerful comment. They were touchy, too, Sorey’s hands constantly finding their way to Mikleo’s shoulder, Mikleo standing close enough to Sorey that their shoulders touched when they spoke. They got dinner together nearly every day, and once, when they’d invited Rose and the others with them, they were teased for feeding each other a sample of the other’s order. They even found out that they shared a birthday.

Some things hadn’t changed, though. Mikleo still found himself distracted by Sorey’s dazzling smile, and Sorey sometimes drifted off watching the way the wind blew through Mikleo’s hair as he bickered with Edna. If their friends noticed, it was hardly worth commenting on anymore; they had reached the obvious conclusions about Sorey and Mikleo’s relationship long ago.

The only problem was that neither Sorey nor Mikleo had managed the same.

* * *

Summer had nearly reached its end. Alisha and Lailah dipped their feet into the pool’s cool water while Edna rested in a reclining chair nearby, the rest sitting around one of the tables in the little shade that a built-in umbrella could provide.

There had been a momentary silence in the conversation, which Alisha broke with a contented sigh. “I know it sounds cheesy, but I’m glad I met you all.”

Lailah swirled her feet in the water, sending ripples across the surface of the pool. “I’m glad, too.” She turned to where Sorey and Mikleo were sitting side by side, examining a diagram from the pages of the book that they had been attempting to translate for hours now. “And we have those two to thank for that.”

The two in question looked up as everyone cast them knowing looks. Sorey chuckled, scratching behind his ear. “I don’t know about that…”

Rose gave him a friendly punch in the arm. “Well, sure. You were the one who wouldn’t shut up about the hot lifeguard with… what exactly did he say?” She turned to Alisha, oblivious to the way Sorey had frozen like a deer in the headlights.

“‘Hair the color of pale aquamarine,’” Alisha supplied, reciting the quote in lofty tones. “Skin so fair as to almost seem translucent, sophisticated violet eyes!”

The others shifted their focus to Mikleo’s burning face, making no attempts to stifle their laughter. Mikleo covered his face, sneaking a glance at Sorey. His eyes were wide, his face bright red, and he looked horrified. His mouth was open wide, like he was trying to speak, but only a very strained noise came out, almost a squeak.

The others either didn’t notice Sorey’s state, or else they chalked it up to embarrassment, and they quickly turned their attention back to Rose. “I told you his poetry could use some work,” she teased.

“I think it’s sweet,” Lailah said warmly, a transparent attempt to cheer Sorey up.

“Micky wasn’t quite that obvious,” Zaveid snickered, and Mikleo tensed again.

“Speak for yourself,” Edna droned. “I would have thought that hanging out with Zaveid so long would have made him oblivious to shirtless men, but boy was I wrong.”

“Edna!” Mikleo finally cut in, mortified. For the first time, the others seemed to take in their surroundings. Mikleo looked like he was about to have a heart attack, and Sorey was still bright red, looking anywhere except the group.

Lailah caught on first, bringing her hands to her mouth in a gasp. “Did you two not…?” One by one, each of the others seemed to realize that Sorey and Mikleo hadn’t entirely known the circumstances of their meeting. Though they strained to remember, none of them could remember telling Mikleo or Sorey what the other’s friends had said about their feelings. After the success of their first date, they had just made their assumptions.

Dezel sighed, then stood up. “Hey, guys,” he said deliberately, his hands flat against the surface of the table. “Can you give me a hand for a minute?” The others nodded timidly, feeling as if they were being scolded. Dezel lead them away, glaring Mikleo’s way when he and Sorey tried to stand as well. They sat back down, neither able to meet the other’s eyes.

It wasn’t that Mikleo’s feelings had gone away. Not at all. It was just that even after all this time, he wasn’t quite sure what Sorey’s were. He’d thought, after their first trip to the museum… but he knew now that Sorey was typically a straightforward kind of person. What might be confused for romantic interest was more than likely just his usual overenthusiasm, or so he’d thought. If Alisha’s quotations were to be believed, well. He blushed furiously, just thinking about it.

Sorey took a deep breath. “So, uh, I know this is probably a weird thing to ask after a couple weeks, but…”

“Are we dating?” Mikleo blurted it out, knowing his cheeks were still crimson. Maybe not the best way to phrase the question, but looking back on the last few weeks, knowing what Sorey had apparently been thinking about him, made Mikleo desperate for answers.

Sorey pursed his lips. “Do you want us to be?” he tried, his fingers tapping nervously across the tabletop.

Mikleo felt his frustration rising. “I-- what about you?”

Sorey, feeling Mikleo’s unrelenting stare on his face, looked away. “Well, I’ve had a lot of fun, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. What does that even mean?” Mikleo pressed. Sorey cringed at the harsh inflection of Mikleo’s words.

“I mean, like… I don’t mind if you don’t want to…to date me,” he forced the words out, looking like he’d rather do anything else. “I didn’t-- I just-- I don’t want to make it weird or anything, because I really like you, as a friend, I mean, and I just…” his words were clumsy, and he finally forced himself to stop and breathe.

“Well, it’s probably too late to keep it from being weird,” Mikleo said quickly. Sorey looked crushed, his bright green eyes dulling, and he nodded dimly. Mikleo cringed. “No, wait, that’s not what I--” His heart was beating out of his chest; he couldn’t think. “I just meant, after… all that.”

“Yeah…” Sorey said sadly, and that wasn’t what Mikleo had wanted to happen at all.

Mikleo tried again, struggling with both embarrassment and words. “No, I mean… it’s the same for me!” Admittedly, what Zaveid and Edna had said wasn’t quite as blatant as Alisha’s words, but still, he would have thought Sorey could figure him out.

Sorey finally dared to look back at him. “It… it is?”

Mikleo nodded, feeling completely ridiculous. “I… yeah.”

“You want to date me?” Sorey reiterated, and Mikleo struggled to keep his flustered state from creeping into his tone.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Sorey began cautiously. “If you want to date me… and I want to date you…?”

“Then… I guess we’re dating?” Mikleo covered a hand over his face, feeling incredibly self-conscious.

Sorey nodded. “Okay.”

They sat there for a few seconds more, an uncomfortable stillness that Mikleo broke, shaking his head at their situation. “Okay. Well. I guess that could have gone a lot worse.” Sorey found himself chuckling, and then Mikleo caught his eye, and the way his eyes glittered when he was amused made Sorey laugh harder, and then Mikleo joined him. Suddenly, their situation seemed funny, and the awkwardness had passed, and it was back to being just the two of them, who somehow fit together so naturally.

“Wanna get something to eat?” Mikleo asked, standing up. “I don’t want to have to explain ourselves to the others just yet, do you?”

Sorey shook his head, smiling up at the other. “Probably not. Hey, I recorded that documentary I was telling you about. We could go to my place and watch it?”

He blushed at Mikleo’s gratified smirk. “Sounds like a date,” he said playfully, and Sorey laughed. As they made their way to the exit, Sorey caught Mikleo’s hand in his own, as he’d wanted to do for weeks, and Mikleo didn’t act embarrassed or take his hand away, as he’d half-expected, but smiled up at him. Sorey felt his heart skip a beat, and they left the pool behind, hand-in-hand, and nothing could have felt more natural.


End file.
